Clear Blue Sky
by Gin van Geovanni
Summary: What happens when a knight saves another, but the other has mischief on his mind to begin with? Balmung takes a lesson in loosening tension from a not so naive Kite.


Disclaimer: Don't own .Hack 'nuff said

Note: For the first time ever I'm not using Azure Kite! 0.o; Have I lost my mind? Maybe . . . I just felt like using the original . . . heh heh.

Also, this one's much lighter than usual.

**Clear Blue Sky**

**By: The not so GeniusVampire**

Kite stretched and yawned widely. The weather stood out even more artificially beautiful than usual. Deep blue eyes floated to the sky with its radiant golden-orange sun, hazy white clouds, and fresh dewy grass; upon the lush grass thundered a flaming hound with neon white eyes and a spiked collar. Nothing in particular appeared to be wrong with it, except for every step it took the ground beneath it burned under its immense paws. Kite sighed and aimed his right arm at it. A glowing blue structure formed around his wrist and expanded into a star-like shape. Streams of ones and zeroes snaked out and wrapped themselves around the devil dog; its data fragmented and exploded in all directions leaving behind a miniature marshmallow of a puppy; the white fluff circled Kite's legs and yapped continuously.

The young twin blade laughed as he turned his back on it; the dog followed and yapped noisily. Kite wanted to kill it, but he was not in the mood after all it was too weak to do anything at the moment, but . . .

He began to run until he could no longer see the puppy. When he was out of eyeshot he ducked inside of a windmill hoping that it was not smart enough to see him or that the windmill would blow his 'scent' away from himself. The puppy stopped and sniffed the air then scampered off elsewhere. As its poufy tail vanished Kite's feeling of impending dread lessened. The turquoise-haired boy sung his legs over the small ledge and sighed. 'Open areas like this always invite more guests than a three person party can handle.' He thought. 'Soloing is suicide, but no one is available . . . And then there's this bracelet, supposedly it can do something new, and that's why I'm here . . . However, I'm not going to try it out if it means getting severely injured.'

All of a sudden something grabbed his leg and pulled him to the ground. He winced when his head crashed on the cliff's edge. The puppy had returned with a flaming army of twelve behind it, some of the pack members appeared to be two-headed sled dogs. One of these two-headed beasts had each one on his legs while another one had his arms. 'I could Data Drain them even in this position, but . . . this thing could go haywire . . .' He looked at his at his soon to be torn limbs and swallowed.

A pillar of ice rose from the ground, forcing him out of the dog's jaws. Kite's PC was too weak to move, and in all honesty he could one see everything through one eye; wave after chilling wave blew the monstrous hounds asunder. After that he saw a shower of shining white feathers.

Regardless of possibilities or even impossibilities, Kite had somehow passed out. When he woke up he was inside of the same window, only he was not alone. He found himself staring into an intense pair of green eyes framed by shocks of smooth white hair. His hair paled in comparison to the impressive wings streaming from his back and the arms of his polished silver armor.

Kite could not contain his shock. "B-Balmung?! What are you doing here?! . . . I thought you had no time for ordinary gameplay . . . And what happened to those things?"

The winged knight shook his head. "Not exactly true, I said I _had _no time for ordinary game play, and you know the circumstances as to why. . ." When Kite nodded Balmung continued. "Now that I have the time to relax or play normally I plan on taking advantage of it . . . until the _next _crisis . . ." He eyed his fellow knight. "Or until you get into trouble again, although I'm not accustomed to fighting off a pack of dogs on my own; anyway they are gone now no need to worry."

'That's a relief.' Kite thought, he would have cringed if his body did not already curl up when he lay on his side or sat down for longer than a few minutes; a habit he had both online and offline. He noticed that Balmung was eyeing him strangely "Why are you looking at me like that? I didn't ask for or cause any kind of trouble, and I try to avoid catastrophes."

"You still have a knack for attracting trouble, or at least unwanted attention. And that bracelet of yours has an odd way of making things worse."

"Hey wait a minute I was under the impression that you needed me when certain disasters hit. You needed my bracelet in particular."

Balmung's wings flared wildly. "Are you implying that I am no better than a CC Corp Admin?! Believe it or not I value players over any bizarre items they may have on them!" Under his breath he muttered "Heaven forbid I become a pawn in such a corrupt system again . . ."

Kite simply smiled, he found it amusing that Balmung could speak in a mature fashion but had a tendency to argue with other people in an almost childish manner. Then he took a certain part of the winged knight's ranting into account. "Wait . . . what did you say earlier?"

The white knight's ears burned a faint red. "Nothing . . ." He leaned on a nearby wall.

Kite raised his eyebrows. "Why don't you just sit down?"

"I do not feel like it, does it bother you that much?"

"Actually yes it does . . . I'm short as it is I don't need to be reminded of it even when I'm sitting, besides it's simply good manners to sit when someone else is. . ." Deep blue's flashed. "Unless you don't truly respect me. . ."

Green eyes widened as their owner turned even redder. He sat on the floor rather ungracefully as his wings folded behind him; the feathers in his armor fell around his knees and folded arms. "Any more etiquette you wish to teach?" He said in an uncharacteristically rough manner.

"Nope." Kite chuckled and sat up straight. "Anyway, I thought you hated me as well as the bracelet the first time you saw it in action. . ."

"Yes well at the time I was paranoid and believed you were the source of the World's infection. I now obviously think and know otherwise."

'Something tells me there's more to it than that. . .' Kite mused then spoke out loud. "Allll right then let's test that theory . . ."

". . ."

"This thing has been doing something strange lately . . . nothing harmful . . . just weird. . ."

Balmung eyed Kite's arm, the bracelet flickered playfully like a Christmas light; its blues, reds, and oranges would have been pleasing to his eyes had he not known what it could do. Although Kite had it under control so things ought to be all right, in addition all Balmung had to do was not touch it, he moved his arm out of Kite's reach. However, Kite's arm seemed to inch closer. Balmung inched to the side; as he did he could have sworn he saw the twin blade's hand spider closer. "Will you get that thing away from me?!" The winged knight flared, his wings even seemed to burn red.

Kite gave a deceivingly innocent look. "What are you talking about? I'm just trying to stretch my arms." He extended both arms and stretched in various directions, practically making sure his elbow missed Balmung by a paper thin margin.

The white haired knight _rolled_ out of the way.

"I thought you said you didn't dislike it."

"I don't, but I know what that . . . that _thing_ can do!" A huge shiny sweatdrop ran down his cheek. "I don't want it to touch me!"

"It's completely under control." Kite said dismissively.

"If that were true I would not see it." Balmung hissed. 'And I know _it_ is under control, but what about _you_?!'

"You're just being paranoid." Kite scooted over and slyly placed his right hand over Balmung's shoulder. "Loosen up a little."

Emerald eyes narrowed in the face of Kite's azure orbs out of paranoid suspicion as well as confusion. For some reason Kite appeared to be closer, as though Balmung was not looking at him through a screen. Then his eyes shifted to Kite's right. The bracelet was no longer visible. "What did you do?!" He demanded.

"Nothing . . . harmful . . ." He replied smartly. His turquoise hair burned bright sky blue when the sun hit the top of his head; his eyes brightened as well.

Balmung jumped up and yanked Kite to his feet as well; the shorter knight felt light in his grip, but not so light that he would break in half in he was held forcefully. "That's not an answer! If you do not give me a . . .!" Something similar to a sharp jab in his spine he put Kite down to massage the spot as best he could. 'That was odd . . .' He thought.

Kite appeared to think the same thing, he blinked as though something came to him then his expression returned to normal. He loosened his scarf and explained. "You know how there is no end to the appearance of Data Bugs and viruses after all, some are still left over while hackers will create similar things now and then . . . Anyway, I found one and just Data Drained it on the spot . . . after that I remember falling and in that short amount of time every single thing felt real from the dusty wind in the canyon to the sand in my shoes and . . . ears. Also, my screen, desk, and M2D were not visible . . . like they disappeared. . ."

White wings flared as Balmung eyeballed him. Once again, the jab came back but he attempted to ignore it.

Kite laughed inwardly. 'He has no idea . . .' Out loud he said. "In a nutshell this bracelet can now bridge the gap between The World, the online game, and the real world it makes the digital physical." He scratched his head. "Basically your senses are active during gameplay . . ."

"Is that all this . . . _effect_ can do?"

"That's right . . ." The blue-eyed knight looked thoughtful. "Although battle is out of the question."

Balmung's left wing twitched as well as his eye. "Why?"

"Isn't it obvious? While nothing (as far as I know from my experience)will happen to your real body you'll feel every blow monsters deal, and it hurts just looking at the damage; feeling it . . . isn't pretty. In addition, very few people can move like their PCs." Kite ruffled his hair. "I remember using staccato like this . . . to this day the very word makes me queasy . . ." His eyes glinted. "By the way did you know that a PC's clothing, armor, etc is removable?"

With a horribly masked look of embarrassment, Balmung nodded.

"Have you ever done it?" Kite's mischievous blue eyes burned holes through Balmung's honest green ones.

Faultless green flashed cold emerald as he snapped "Of course not! Why would I do such a disgraceful thing?!"

"You've _thought_ about though haven't you?" Kite's eyes gleamed as his bracelet lit up again.

"I will not allow you to use that thing for disreputable and perverted behavior!"

"'Disreputable', Balmung you sound like someone's old uncle when you say that!" Kite giggled. "And it's only perverted if you make it out to be, riiiigggght?"

'I sound like what?!' Balmung fumed. "What spawned these immoral thoughts anyway?!" He demanded with what little dignity he had left.

"C'mon it's not like that . . ." Kite's eyes drifted to the floor and he sank to it. "Although I suppose I'm going overboard with it. . ."

'You SUPPOSE?!' Balmung's patience ran thinner with each word that spilled from Kite's mouth.

"Hey . . . Balmung, I'm not causing problems for you, am I?"

". . . No . . . I am a little shaken though. . . And there is this prickly feeling on my back. . ."

"Did you ever think it was . . . your wings?" Kite inquired.

Balmung's eyebrows knit together; he flicked his wings, the jab reduced to a mere itching now that he was aware of it. He glanced up to see Kite staring at his wings and fiddling with something behind his back. The young knight suddenly asked. "Have you ever wondered what your wings felt like?"

"Excuse me?" Balmung questioned.

"Your wings, I know I've wondered about them. . ." He raised two bare hands. There was a wavemark similar to the two on his face tattooed on his left thumb and his fingernails were mid-length. His knuckles were rather dark and there were calluses on his palms from wielding two blades. Even so, Kite looked more like a kid who spent most of his time on monkey bars not swinging swords.

"But wouldn't these wings simply feel like feathers?"

"Oh come on Balmung, even bird's feathers have individual textures, who knows what a knight's feathers would feel like?"

Even Balmung caught himself chuckling. "Kite, I think you're the only curious one here." A light wind blew, playing with his hair and tickling his cheeks. Slow breathing matched the wind's pace as he closed his eyes as something light skipped across his nose he opened the right eye in time to see a lone white feather float into the wind. His heart rate increased a small margin as it glided away, the pace quickening even more as it passed by Kite's azure orbs glowing with curiosity. 'I suppose there's no harm in it . . . but . . .' Aloud he said sternly "Do not pull any of them."

"No problem." Kite smiled a little too brightly as though he knew Balmung would not refuse. Emerald eyes glanced at the teal haired knight's toothy white smile, and as though he were made of smoke he disappeared behind him. However, as he slowly reached out his childish fingers Kite's expression became serious. When those digits were a mere butterfly's breath away he halted. "Are you sure?" He questioned.

Balmung almost swatted Kite with his impatient wings as he extended them. "All I asked was not to pull them." He folded his arms and plopped down.

For a brief moment Kite thought of touching his silvery-white hair, but the glowing allure of the wings called out stronger. He gently brushed his fingers against the wing folds, tracing a rhythmic outline all the way to their tips. Short fingernails glided through the pearly white thicket like the casual wind, followed by his actual fingers, each digit passing through the feathers like . . .

'. . . Feels like silk,' Kite mused. 'Or even fur . . . like the first time I touched a Persian cat's fur. . .' Unconsciously his cheeks flushed red. 'I liked the way her fur felt against my cheek. . .' Quietly he settled further down on his knees and ghosted his cheek to one of the wings.

With the twin blade completely out of view, Balmung craned his neck further behind him simply to see to top of Kite's cap. His face burned as brightly as Kite's when he glimpsed the younger knight nuzzling up to him like that at least that is how it appeared. To be sure he asked. "What are you doing?!"

Broken out of his trance, Kite jumped up stammering. "N-nothing at all!" He hastily dusted the grass from his knees and stood up. "I knew it though . . . your wings are unique . . . they feel different . . . I'm not sure how to describe them . . . like feathers, and yet like fur, then . . ." He fumbled for words. ". . . Then they felt a little bit like water, I don't know they felt . . . pure untainted. . . The only way you could really get my meaning is if you felt them yourself. . ." He sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck.

Still blushing, Balmung murmured. "I'll pass . . ."

"That's too bad . . ." Kite reached for the base of Balmung's left wing, as close to his shoulders as possible, and rotated his index and middle fingers slowly; when the knight did not react negatively Kite used the rest of his hand and began to stroke lightly. Balmung breathed deeply but otherwise did not object. Kite inched his free hand to the right wing and inquired to the top of Balmung's head. "You're not saying anything . . . why?"

"You aren't pulling . . . besides . . ." Stubbornness would not allow him to say 'You're not bad with your hands' or even 'That feels nice' so he simply looked into Kite's mirror-like eyes, quirking his own at his blue-tinted reflection. He shook his head and cut himself off. ". . . It's nothing . . . just . . . do as you please." Momentarily surprised, Kite simply smiled and continued his light massaging keeping his pace in tune with Balmung's steady breathing. As he added soothing pressure Balmung tilted his head back a margin, allowing Kite to massage his smooth neck. Slowly the knight's eyes drifted shut he opened them when he no longer felt Kite's gentle hands. He almost demanded "Why did you stop?" but he was not about to let Kite know that. He became aware of his head resting in Kite's lap. 'When did this happen?' He mused bewildered.

"Did you enjoy your nap?" Kite chirped.

"I wasn't asleep!" Balmung lied with his head still on Kite's leg.

"You're right, you didn't go to sleep; you _blacked out_!" The latter laughed even harder.

Balmung's face burned such a brilliant crimson, his wings matched. Dreading the answer, he whispered. "How . . . long was I asleep?"

"Mmm . . ." Sky blue eyes drifted skyward. "About ten minutes, maybe fifteen."

". . ."

"At least I didn't say a few hours . . . and I didn't mind." Sheepish blue eyes looked skyward again then widened in shock. At absolute random he said. "Damn . . ." in a slow drawn out manner.

Balmung said nothing and sat up.

"Sorry about that . . . it's just I've a big exam tomorrow and since I've been studying for four days I decided to take a quick break in The World and try out the bracelet's ability with someone else, but I suppose 'quick stay' does not exist in here, huh?" Kite stood and stretched.

For the second time, Balmung chuckled. "True this game can get you into trouble now and then."

The sound of Balmung's laugh not once, but TWICE floored Kite (in a good way). ". . . Yeah. . ." He said in a dazed voice. ". . .Well . . .I'm going to log out and try to study for at least ten minutes, it's better than nothing. . . Oh and about the effect it'll wear off after I log out, or when you do whichever comes first . . . I'll see you later . . ." He turned around letting a fine rose color blossom all over his cheeks.

Regardless of whether or not Balmung noticed him trying to hold it in he called. "Kite!"

The younger knight forgot what he had been hiding and turned around.

". . . If I e-mail you my number, will you let me how your test went?"

Kite paused then smiled. "Sure." He replied then left.

Even after the effect wore off, Balmung could feel Kite's hands on his wings.

* * *

-Whew- I'm done ok now for a note:

-Originally, Kite was going to simply be bored and start bugging Balmung, but the part where he was 'saved' seemed more fun. Oh yeah to reiterate something Kite did not attack it simply because he was in no mood to, just like he said all he wanted to do was laze around for a few minutes then log out. . . the bracelet was an afterthought.

-The exam reason is as random as it looks in truth I needed a reason to end it (it's supposed to be a one-shot, but now I'm not sure).

-Please drop a line, the GeniusVampire loves catching them, she writes more that way** , **well she tries anyway...


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